CSI 12x03 Bittersweet

Let's call it "Nesting Dolls Redux: The Sara has matured episode".

* Nick is on a “date” with Doc Robbins’ niece. They’re at a gallery looking at very strange art. Nick comes up to one and has something drip on him. He smells it, and recognizes the smell as a decomp. Ewww. The gallery turns into a crime scene. He & DB find another art piece is part of a face cast in cement. The artist says his stuff is “found art” for a reason – he found it at a dump site.

This whole Nick-on-a-date thing reminds me of Sanctuary’s Will & Abby in the “One Night” episode. Only in that one, the two got abducted instead of being in a crime scene.

* DB & Nick are now at the dump site and found a full face cast in cement as well. I love how the artist dude, Slade (“just Slade”) is bemoaning the fact that his place for finding his art will be history now. Nick notices a flower earring on the skull and mentions he’s seen that before – on a case Sara had where five girls were abducted & sexually assaulted, murdered, dismembered and cased in cement. The case was solved and a husband/wife team were put away – the husband for life, the wife, Gina, got off with just a few years & is now out.

* Sara comes to the lab where DB is watching tapes that were found after the verdicts had been given. Sara isn’t surprised that Gina got out on parole as she’s a “master manipulator”.
S: I was on this case then…I want on it now.
DB: Well, I guess there’s something to be said for continuity.

LOL too bad the writers didn’t know the meaning of the word “continuity” in the past five years.

* Greg & Morgan are at a different crime scene and realize it’s a body dump. Morgan asks Greg about Nick’s “date” with Doc Robbins’ niece. He must not know about it because he doesn’t answer and goes on to view the body. Poor Greg, being left out of the loop.

* Sara and Nick are processing the body parts in the cement. HELLO “Nesting Dolls” flashbacks! Finding the bodies in cement, trying to get them out of it… but sadly without the Gil/Cath flirting this time.

* Cath & DB are in the lab, discussing Sara’s relation to the old case. DB is still asking her what to do.
C: There’s a lot of people who would like to see Gina Sinclair pay for what she did.
DB: and by ‘people’ you mean Sara.
C: you know how it is. You, uh, live with a case for a couple of years, you obviously get very close to the victim and their families and…justice isn’t served.
DB: she said she wants another shot. Should I be worried?
C: I know why Ecklie brought you in. Clearly, as a supervisor, I was too close to my team. I allowed one of them to walk into a house with a serial killer.
DB: right. What are you saying?
C: I’m saying that you can’t let Sara walk through that same door. You are the supervisor now, you’ve gotta protect the team.
DB: okay, I got that.

Ha. Who’s actually acting more like the supervisor in this case? I like how we see Catherine acknowledging what happened and realizing where her faults were. Now, if only we could get Nick to do the same. Fat chance on that.

* Sara arrives at Gina Sinclair’s new apartment. She sees Mr Burrows – the father of one of Gina’s victims – in a car outside watching the place. She gets in the car with him. Anyone notice that it’s freaky Francis from Season 5’s “Ch-ch-changes”? He’s been living in his car since his wife kicked him out three weeks ago. After telling him to go home, Sara gets out of his car and walks over to the pool area of Gina’s apartment complex. Gina is in a chaise lounge, watching all of the children in the pool.
S: you look good, Gina. I guess prison agreed with you.
G: and you’re looking a little pale.
S: yeah, I spend most of my time in a lab busting psychopaths like you. We, um, found a girl….in cement.
G: it’s got nothing to do with me.
S: then you won’t mind if I search your apartment.
G: well, it’s kind of a mess. It’s the maid’s day off.
S: you’re on parole. I don’t need a warrant.
G: I don’t need to be harassed by you or by numbnuts out in the car. Burrows has been stalking me ever since I got out.
S: well, you, um, raped, murdered & dismembered his daughter.
G: Court said Todd did it. I’m as much a victim as those other girls.

It’s fun to see Sara trying to control herself from decking the woman.

Sara looks back at the other kids around the pool area, then back to Gina.
S: am I blocking your view?
G: just admiring the flowers.
Sara raises her voice to address the rest of the people around the pool.
S: Excuse me. May I have your attention. I am with the Las Vegas Police Department. Your neighbor here, Gina Sinclair, Apartment 206, is a rapist and a murderer. And if I were you, I would keep an eye on your children.
The parents begin to gather up their kids and usher them away.
S: (to Gina) get up. I’m calling your parole officer. Let’s see what kind of mess your maid left.

So great to see “in charge” Sara. I like when she gets all bossy.


* In DB’s office, he’s opening a package. Sara comes in.
S: look, I already know why you called me in here. I paid a visit today to a person of interest, who by any reasonable measure is our prime suspect and I executed a search.
DB: yeah, and in the process, in front of 30 of her neighbors, called her a rapist, a murderer,
S: and a psychopath. But that was to her face.
DB: well you should know that her attorney is threatening to sue the department & you for harassment, which she has every right to do.
He opens the package, which contains a #8 jersey with “Russell” on the back.
DB: *laughs* my son is on the freshman team at WLVU. Kid’s been practicing since he was 6. And you know something? In Junior High, he used to practice at night & he wanted to walk home, but I wouldn’t let him. One of us always picked him up. Kids should be able to walk home from school. These girls should have been able to walk home. You know, I want the Gina Sinclairs of the world off the streets just as much as you do.
S: I was just taking her temperature.
DB: yeah. rectally. You showed your hand today to a “master manipulator” – your words.
S: her neighbors have a right to know. She did this. Five years ago. Three weeks ago. Yeah, and she’s going to do it again.
DB: yeah, and maybe now she’ll get away with it…again. Look, you know this – when we walk into court, if the defense can’t attack the evidence, they attack us, which is why we need to be unbiased & impartial. You - no - You blew it today…in front of 30 potential jurors. I don’t wanna lose this, Sara. I wanna win.
S: so do I. … am I off the case? Because if I am, someone needs to call Colleen Hughes and tell her that Gina’s out of prison.
DB: maybe I should handle that.

Stop it, you guys. You’re making me miss the Cath/Sara catfights, damn it. I don’t like this quiet arguing. It’s just not the Sara Sidle way.


* Doc is sawing apart the DB’s (no, not DB, the actual dead body) chest cavity. Morgan is enraptured while watching him.
Doc: good call on the dual liver-mortis.
M: thank you. I didn’t get this job cuz of nepotism.
Doc: never crossed my mind.
Greg comes in to the autopsy.
G: am I late?
M: nope, I’m always early.

She’s so much better at the one-liners than her dad is.

* Doc notices that the lungs are distended. “They should feel like deflated balloons, these feel more like pillows, but heavy.”

Ewwww. Now every time I see my pillow, I’ll think of a distended lung. Thanks for the image, Doc. Damn.

* Morgan asks to feel them. “Oh, that’s awesome.”

LOL She still reminds me so much of Riley in that respect.

* As Doc is trying to take them out to weigh them, one bursts, and out comes a dark substance. Morgan runs her fingers through it and smells. “Chocolate. … Guy’s a souffle.” They believe the guy drowned while floating in chocolate.


* Greg & Morgan are now in DB’s office.
DB: so milk or dark chocolate?
Greg & Morgan look at each other.
M: really? That’s your first question?
DB: no, but that’s going to be my wife’s as soon as I tell her the story.
Then DB goes on a tangent about a book where a guy kills his adopted son by drowning him in a vat of butter. Greg & Morgan say they’ll go find the vat.

Oy. Enough with the family references. Every. Single. Time.


* Nick begins interviewing Ryan Thomas, one of the people who dumped things at the ravine in the park – dump site from the first case. Among the items that were his included the microwave. He said the night he dumped it, there was a truck that peeled out & almost hit him. There was a cute chick driving.

* DB is talking with one of the original victims, Colleen Hughes, telling her that Gina is out of prison. She doesn’t want to hide or go back to live with her parents. She even declines DB’s offer to have cops sit at her place. She says she’s “done being a victim.”

So, you know what that means, right?


* Cath, Sara & DB are in the lab going over the logistics of the case.
C: Samantha Chase, 13, our girl in cement. Doc Robbins ID’d her off of her dental records. She was last seen three weeks ago leaving Desert Palm Library. (she brings it up on a video map) Library is here. Samantha Chase’s home is here.
S: and Gina Sinclair’s condo is right in the middle.
C: we know that both of her parents work
DB: Latch key kid.
S: she walks home from the library every day, right past Gina’s window.
C: same age. Even looks like the previous victims.
S: Gina’s a predator. She probably waited for the right moment, and then she just grabbed her.
DB: yeah, but you said you searched Gina’s place.
S: yes, and I didn’t find anything, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t take her somewhere else.
C: and we need to find that someplace else.
DB: until we do, that’s just a theory.
Sara gets a text.
S: a theory… trace results from Samantha Chase’s fingernail scrapings found dog hair, Pomeranian. Gina Sinclair has a Pomeranian.

Who cares about the scene. Let me enjoy my Cath/Sara moment for a bit. They’re few and very far between. I need to savor each & every one – like a fine wine.

* Morgan & Greg are staring at paintings of a naked guy (from the waist up) dripping in chocolate.
M: this guy looks good from…every angle. If he’s selling, I’m buying.
G: I’m not so sure it’s chocolate he’s selling.

That is SUCH a Riley Adams comment.

* They’re introduced to Angie Selinger, CEO of “sinful pleasures” she recognizes a pic of the dead guy as the person who came in looking for a job there. They tell her that the company’s Argentinian Virgin Honeybee Chocolate was in the dead guy.
G: we’re going to need to take a tour of your chocolate factory.

ROFL That is so “campy”. Greg, you’re giving me visions of inflating kids rising up to the ceiling, and silly songs. MAKE. IT. STOP. PLEASE.

* so Greg & Morgan are searching the factory.
M: if I fall in, don’t save me.
G: copy that. And while you’re up there – notice if anyone else fell in?
Morgan takes pics of a hair that’s floating on top. She takes it out with a tweezer.
M: I’m thinking “pube” recall.

Ewwwwwww.

* they realize if he fell in, he didn’t get out by himself. Someone got him out of there and cleaned up. Greg lifts up a drain cover and finds interesting evidence.
G: Piece of scalp. Shut it down. (to the workers standing nearby) this place is a crime scene.

Oooh, Bossy Greg. Melikey.

* Back in the garage at the lab, DB is staring at the pieces of cement laid out on the table. Sara comes in.
S: you wanted to see me?
DB: did you process these blocks?
S: yes.
DB: by yourself?
S: No, uh I worked with Nick, why is there a problem, or…
DB: blocks are heavy. Not surprising it’s a 2-person job.
S: Gina had help.
DB: like before. I don’t think she’s a solo act.
S: She found another Todd. Somebody weak. Someone easily controlled.
DB: find the weak link. Nail Gina.

Nice and simple exposition scene. I liked seeing the revelation on Sara’s face, but I also wish that DB would have turned and looked at her instead of staring at the blocks. It would show more respect towards her.

* in the break room, Morgan is sampling chocolates from the company. Nick comes in to eat his lunch. She shows him pics of the dead chocolate guy’s place. There were numerous boxes of chocolates everywhere. Greg comes in to say that Archie unlocked Chad’s (dead chocolate guy) laptop. On it are lots of pics of the guy in the chocolate company’s ad campaign. They notice the guy in the ad campaign’s eyes are amber. Dead chocolate guy’s eyes are amber. It’s kind of rare. Greg pulls up an old DMV photo of the guy – it’s the same guy, just fatter. Greg is now talking to CEO Selinger. She doesn’t recognize that it’s the same guy. She said she knew “every inch” of Tristan, the guy in the campaign – even the birthmark on his left butt cheek, the one in the shape of Rhode Island. Greg says it’s the same one that’s on Chad, except now it’s the size of Texas. She says she didn’t know it was him. Greg thinks she’s lying because the guy got past security and into the factory. As Greg tells her that they’ll “let the jury decide”, Angie says she didn’t kill him and that he killed himself. She says he paid off the guard and told him he wanted some “alone time” and wanted to say goodbye. She didn’t call the cops because each of the vats of chocolate are worth $20,000 and if she calls the cops to report it, she’s out of business. She says the security guy cleaned him up & dumped him in the alley.
AS: It’s not a crime. He killed himself. Suicide…by chocolate.
G: Dumping a body is a class D felony and making false statements to the police…that’s the whip cream on the sundae.
M: or another year on the nickel.

Uh, don’t think I got that last part. I think that joke flew over my head. Maybe it’s just an Ecklie thing. And HELLO. An interrogation scene with no detective? In fact, we haven’t seen a detective for any of this episode yet, have we? No Brass. No Vartann. No Vega. No Sofia. No Riley… oh wait. Sorry. I was dreaming back to the good old days.

* Colleen Hughes’ mom comes in and talks to Sara & DB that she’s worried about her. DB tells her he talked to Colleen to say that Gina was out of prison. She asks if Colleen was in police protection. Sara tells her of DB’s offer of protection and that she declined. Now Mrs Hughes has a feeling that her daughter is kidnapped again.

I love how Janet Hughes calls Sara by her name. Just another way to show Sara’s heavy involvement in the original case. And it’s another familiar face. What episode was she in again? Or was it another show? Damn she’s familiar.

* DB & Sara drive to Gina’s place. They see Mr Burrows’ car, but he’s not in it. DB calls for backup. Sara goes to the door. She sees a boot print by the door handle and they hear Mr Burrows talking. Sara kicks open the door and they go in. Ed Burrows has Gina tied to a chair, battered and a knife at her throat. Officer Mitch comes in as a backup. Sara tells Ed that Colleen is missing and they need Gina to tell them where she is. Ed relents to Sara’s pleas and gives her the knife. Mitch cuffs him. Gina tells Sara “thank you”, Sara turns and walks away.

Hmmm. I tell ya. This ‘mature’ version of Sara – I can’t decide if it’s nice to see, or if it sucks. I miss the fly-off-the-handle Sara a lot sometimes.

* in the lab, Nick is doing an experiment with a power washer hose and a … side of pork?

Next.

* in the lab, Sara is quietly fiddling with her gun & holster. Nick comes in the doorway & asks if she’s okay.
N: I heard it got pretty ugly at Gina’s.
S: the good news is that she’s in the hospital. The bad news is she’s going to be okay. We still have no idea where they’re holding Colleen. Ed Burrows is facing kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder charges. Once again, Gina skates.
N: well, maybe not this time. Hodges found traces of sodium medicilicate and anionic serfactant on cement girl’s body parts.
S: soap
N: not just any soap. Soap that’s used in industrial pressure washers, which got me thinking – we never found a tool that was used to cut up Sinclair’s victims, right?
S: uh-uh.
N: so, I got one of those power washers and used it on a pork shank. The traumatic injuries were consistent. Those things are no joke.
S: so Gina used a pressure washer to dismember the bodies…but, you know we never found any trace of soap in the original case.
N: because I don’t think she used it. It was Todd’s job.
S: Todd knew to rinse off the soap. Gina missed that step, or whoever she’s teamed up with now. So Gina has access to a pressure washer.
N: yeah, I think so- a big fat industrial one. $50,000 unit. There’s not a lot of those floating around.

Awwww. It’s been a long time (“Gum Drops” maybe?) since we’ve had a great SNickers scene like this. I miss the great chemistry these two used to have in the good old days. This was a nice scene with Nick trying to cheer up Sara in the best way possible – bringing her new evidence.

* Henry has DB come into his lab as he’s walking by. Apparently Henry’s doing DNA as well as Tox these days. Damn. There comes the reminder that Wendy’s gone. Damn you CSI Powers That Be. Anyway, it seems Henry made a match with DNA taken from Samantha Chase to Ryan Thomas. So Ryan had sex with cement lady.

Thus our final clue that’s needed. Like we didn’t know Ryan Thomas was going to be back in the picture.

* Pow-wow (or is it Family Meeting now?) in the layout room with Nick, DB, Cath & Sara. It’s another Cath/Sara in-the-context-of-the-evidence scene (but I’ll take it anyway I can get it).
S: Ryan Thomas partnered up with Gina. They tortured & murdered Samantha Chase and now they’ve got Colleen Hughes.
N: oh man, I had him. He was sitting right across from me.
C: we still got him, Nick. You swabbed his cheek and we took his info.
DB gets a text message.
DB: Alright, Brass checked out Thomas’ place, he wasn’t there. We have a broadcast out on the van.
C: so where did Thomas work?
N: he was a day laborer. Construction, odd jobbs, stuff like that. Last employment was at a marina.
C: Hodges ran the fibers that you pulled from the cement block…said it was fiberglass, the type used in auto body repair, as well as boats.
DB: you know in Seattle when we take a boat out for the winter, you know what we do? Power wash it.
C: so, what marina employed Ryan Thomas?

A mention of Brass (why bother?), Cath & Sara in the same scene, DB with another “home” reference…I guess this is as good as we get these days, huh?

* Nick & Sara arrive at a warehouse with a few officers, including Mitch. They go into the warehouse. We hear (and see) a little yipping dog. Nice guard dog, huh? They see that Colleen is the one who has a girl tied up on a bed. Ryan is video taping nearby. They apprehend them. Sara is stunned.
S: Colleen?
Colleen: I just wanted to give Gina another flower. I’m a good girl. I’m a good girl.
Nick is hugging and consoling the other girl. Sara still looks stunned.

* Sara comes to the hospital and arrives outside Colleen’s room where her mother is watching over her. Janet sees Sara and walks out of the room to talk to her.
J: the doctor says a victim sometimes identify with their abusers. Colleen is who she is, because of what Gina Sinclair did to her.
S: Colleen was at a …a critical age when she was abducted. She was still developing some key aspects of her personality.
J: I thought it was…a miracle, a gift that she survived. And now…how do I protect her from herself?
Sara doesn’t have an answer. She lightly shakes her head.

Awwww. It’s great to see that Sara doesn’t even try to answer the questions that she has no answer for.

* DB is waiting in the hallway of the hospital when Sara comes by.
DB: hey
S: hey.
Sara sits next to him at his urging.
DB: have you eaten?
S: no, I’m not really in the mood.
DB: yeah, I’m hungry too. … you like Chinese? Sushi? Italian? Greek? … I will go on.
S: Oh, I, I know you will.
DB: do you like Indian?
Sara gives him a smirk.

Awww. The cute Sara Sidle smirk to end things. Very nice. Great to note that we didn’t get the “I’m a vegetarian” speech this time.



Summary:

First of all, let me say – bravo to Jorja. This is one of her finest performances yet. Right up there with “No Humans Involved” and “Committed”. As a non-GSR Sara fan (yes, there is such a thing. We're a very small group) I’m really enjoying the Sara/DB quiet moments.

The Sara fans will be glowing with excitement, and the DB fans… are there really DB fans yet? Okay, maybe a few. They’ll be excited to have more of his character traits flushed out, and the same for Morgan fans. I’m gonna guess that that Nick fans are complaining about the lack of screen time - like they always do. The Greg fans will be joyous of the amount of screen time, but still wishing for more. The Marg fans still won’t really care about the limited Catherine screen time, because it’s Marg’s wish to have less time at work, and, let’s face it – we’re just waiting for her exit so we can be done as well. Oh, and by the way, just what exactly was Cath’s purpose for being in this episode other than to have DB ask her what to do about Sara? Oh, and to bring back a subtle reference to Nesting Dolls. (Duh.)

Oh, and again I’ll reiterate – if they’re going to have DB spout off a family reference every time he opens his mouth, this is going to get very old very fast. And it’s great to know that DB’s not as good at reading people as he thinks he is – sympathizing with Colleen, not recognizing her clues of not needing protection or wanting cops to be around to make sure she’s safe. Good to know he’s clouded by his strong feelings of family, like the rest of the team is with their own clouded judgements.

The more they flush out Morgan’s character, the more it makes me think of Riley Adams II. I guess Elisabeth and LLS have the same type of delivery and acting style that makes the characters seem so similar.

Interrogations, interviews and crime scenes, but no detectives…at all? What’s up with that. All we saw was Mitch coming to Sara & DB’s rescue. Here I thought this show was supposed to be getting back to the basics? I guess they forgot a few important points. Even if we didn’t have Brass, how about someone else? Even a newbie would do. I guess we’re regressing a few steps backward this time around.

So, I got a lot of shades of Nesting Dolls in this one - finding the bodies in cement, and the DB/Sara argument (instead of the Cath/Sara catfight), but minus the Gil/Cath flirting

And finally – the familiar faces. Ed Burrows was Francis in Season 5 “Ch-ch-changes” and Janet Hughes was the evil car bomb maker who tried to get revenge on her cheating spouse in “Grissom vs the Volcano”. No, I couldn’t remember. I had to look it up, okay? It’s 1am and my brain is fried. Deal with it!